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Battle of Ankara
|conflict=Battle of Ankara |partof= |date=20 July 1402 |place=''Çubuk'' field, near Ankara |result=Decisive Timurid victoryRafis Abazov, Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Central Asia, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 56.Europe in the Late Middle Ages, ed. John Rigby Hale, John Roger Loxdale Highfield, Beryl Smalley, (Northwestern University Press, 1965), 150;"Timur, after defeating the Mamluks in 1400, won a decisive victory over the Ottomans near Ankara in 1402". |combatant1= Timurid Empire |combatant2= Ottoman Empire Serb forces under Stefan Lazarević |commander1=Timur Shah Rukh (Left Wing) Khalil Sultan (Left Wing) Miran Shah (Right Wing) Abu Bakr (Vanguard) Sultan Huseyn (Advance Guard) Mohammed Sultan (Main Body) |commander2=Beyazid I Stefan LazarevicJohn Van Antwerp Fine (1994) The Late Medieval Balkans. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; p. 499.Erik Hildinger (2001) Warriors of the Steppe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press ISBN 0-306-81065-4; p. 189.John Patrick Douglas Balfour Kinross (1977) The Ottoman Centuries. New York: William Morrow and Company; p. 75.René Grousset (1970) The Empire of the Steppes, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press ISBN 0-8135-0627-1; p. 451. Beyazid's sons: Süleyman (Left Wing) İsa, Musa, Mehmed I, Mustapha (died in battle)A History of Greece: The Byzantine and Greek empires, pt. 2, A.D. 1057-1453 by George Finlay, Henry Fanshawe Tozer; Clarendon Press, 1877, About the Serb contingent: Ducas (35. edit. Paris) makes the Servians 5000; Chalcocondila (78) says 10,000. But the Servian contingent was fixed at 2000 heavy cavalry in the first treaty between Servia and the Byzantine empire and Sultan Bayezid adopted the same number when he completed the subjection of Servia''Encyclopaedia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Enlarged and Improved, Volume 27 A. Constable, 1911 page 444The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by Kenneth Meyer Setton; American Philosophical Society, 1976 page 376 |strength1=Disputed |strength2=Disputed 2,000 - 10,000 Serbs Prawdin, Michael, and Gérard Chaliand, ''The Mongol Empire, (Transaction Publishers, 2006), 495. |casualties1=15,000-25,000 killed and wounded |casualties2=15,000-40,000 killed and wounded }} The Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on 20 July 1402,"Ankara, Battle of" in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 423. took place at the field of Çubuk (near Ankara) between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for the Ottoman Empire (the Ottoman Interregnum). However the Timurid Empire went into terminal decline following Timur's death just three years after the battle, while the Ottoman Empire made a full recovery, and continued to increase in power for another two to three centuries. Background Timur was one of the most powerful Central Asian rulers since Genghis Khan. By long and relentless fighting, he sought to rebuild the Mongol Empire of his predecessors.Beatrice Forbes Manz, "Temür and the Problem of a Conqueror's Legacy," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Apr., 1998), 25; "In his formal Temur continued throughout his life as the restorer of Chinggisid rights. He even justified his Iranian, Mamluk and Ottoman campaigns as a reimposition of legitimate Mongol control over lands taken by usurpers...".Michal Biran, "The Chaghadaids and Islam: The Conversion of Tarmashirin Khan (1331-34)," Journal of American Oriental Society, Vol. 122, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2002), 751; "Temur, a non-Chinggisid, tried to build a double legitimacy based on his role as both guardian and restorer of the Mongol Empire.". Timur had conquered Georgia and Azerbaijan in 1390 and Syria in 1399 after defeating the Mamluks, expanding his empire to the borders of the Ottoman Empire. The two powers soon came into direct conflict. Bayezid demanded tribute from one of the Anatolian Beyliks who had pledged loyalty to Timur and threatened to invade.Tucker, Spencer C. (2010) Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict. ABC-ClIO; p. 140 Timur interpreted this action as an insult to himself and in 1400 sacked the Ottoman city of Sebaste (modern Sivas). In 1402, the Ottomans campaigned in Europe, trying to conquer Hungary. Timur, a wise and educated military leader, found it as a proper moment to attack and destroy the Ottoman empire. Beyazid was stung into furious action and when Timur invaded Anatolia from the east, hurried back from Europe in order to confront fast moving Timur somewhere in the west of Turkey. Timur, whose whole army was mounted, took a u-turn moving fast through Anatolia, slaughtering Ottoman conscripts, taking away horses, destroying Ottoman cities and towns in his path.The age of Tamerlane : Warfare in the Middle East c.1350-1500 by David Nicolle; Angus McBride London : Osprey, 1990. The conflict, overall, was the culmination of years of insulting letters exchanged between Timur and Bayezid. Forces The exact size of the conflicting armies is not known. When Timur invaded Asia Minor, his army of horsemen with no infantry allowed him to move fast through the Ottoman Empire, destroying the Empire's defense piece by piece. Later, before the main battle and during the battle, a number of Bayezid's allies and vassals joined Timur. In Turkey Old and New: historical, geographical and statistical (1880), Sutherland Menzies states that both armies amounted to nearly one million men.Sutherland Menzies (1880) Turkey, Old and New: historical, geographical and statistical. London: W. H. Allen and Co.; p. 65 Peter Fredet claims that Timur and Bayezid's armies consisted of 800,000 and 400,000 men, respectively.Peter Fredet (1893) Modern History: from the coming of Christ and change of the Roman Republic into an Empire, to the year of Our Lord 1888. Baltimore: J. Murphy & Co.; pp. 373-374 Robert Henlopen Labberton argues that Timur's army had 600,000 men, while Bayezid's army was only 120,000 strong.Robert Henlopen Labberton (1888) New Historical Atlas and General History (MacCoun's Historical Series). London: Macmillan In The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, historian Edward Gibbon explained in detail the discrepancies over the strength of both forces:Edward Gibbon; Henry Hart Milman (1899) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 6, Peter Fenelon New York: Collier; p. 263 This number of 800,000 was extracted by Arabshah, or rather by Ebn Schounah, ex rationario Timuri, on the faith of a Carizmian officer (tom. i. c. 68, p. 617); and it is remarkable enough that a Greek historian (Phranza, l. i. c. 29) adds no more than 20,000 men. Poggius reckons 1,000,000; another Latin contemporary (Chron. Tarvisianum, apud Muratori, tom. xix. p. 800) 1,100,000; and the enormous sum of 1,600,000 is attested by a German soldier who was present at the battle of Angora (Leunclav. ad Chalcondyl. l. iii. p. 82). Timour, in his Institutions, has not deigned to calculate his troops, his subjects, or his revenues. ... Timour himself fixes at 400,000 men the Ottoman army (Institutions, p. 153), which is reduced to 150,000 by Phranza (l. i. c. 29), and swelled by the German soldier to 1,400,000. It is evident that the Moguls were the more numerous. forces of Bayezid are put at 90,000 by Sad ad-Din (tr. Bratutti, 214). Of course the number given by Timur cannot be accepted. In Armies of the Ottoman Turks, 1300–1774, David Nicolle remarked that "the sizes of the two armies are reliably estimated at 140,000 on Timur's side and no more than 85,000 under Sultan Bayezid I".David Nicolle (1983) Armies of the Ottoman Turks, 1300–1774. London: Osprey Publishing, p. 29 Gjon Kastrioti (Skanderbeg's father) together with other Ottoman vassals from Albania (Koja Zaharia, Dhimiter Jonima and probably Tanush Dukagjini) personally led their retainers participating in this battle on Ottoman side.The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest Author John Van Antwerp Fine Edition reprint, illustrated Publisher University of Michigan Press, 1994 ISBN 0-472-08260-4, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5 p. 422 "In 1402, when many Albanian vassals of the Ottomans — Koja Zakarija, Demetrius Jonima, John Castriot, and probably Tanush Major Dukagjin — led their retainers personally to support Bayezid against Timur at Ankara." Battle during the Battle of Ankara, Emir Timur had become the preeminent ruler in the Muslim world.]] The battle began with a large-scale attack from the Ottomans, countered by swarms of arrows from the Timurid horse archers. Several thousands were killed and many surrendered to Timur. Serbian Prince Stefan Lazarević and his knights together with Wallachian forces successfully fought off the Timurid assaults and did cut through the Mongol ranks three times. Each time Stefan advised Bayezid to break out with him but Bayezid repeatedly declined to do so resulting in the proud and stubborn Sultan after a lengthly resistance to be captured. But the Serbians managed to save one of Bayezids sons and the treasury from the Mongols and made their way to Constantinople. The Serbian troops wore heavy black armour which reflected the Timurid arrows Timur admired the Serbian troops who "fight like lions". During the battle the main water supply of both armies, Çubuk creek, was diverted to an off-stream reservoir near the town of Çubuk by Timur, which left the Ottoman army with no water. The final battle took place at Catal hill, dominating the Çubuk valley. The Ottoman army, both thirsty and tired, was defeated, though Bayezid managed to escape to the nearby mountains with a few hundred horsemen. However, Timur had the mountains surrounded and, heavily outnumbering Bayezid, soon captured him. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Ottoman army was further weakened by the desertion of the Tatars and the Sipahis from the Anatolian beyliks, who left Bayezids' side and joined Timur's forces.Tucker, Spencer C. (2010) Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict. ABC-ClIO; p. 141 Aftermath European populations had, at first, seen the Timurids as a blessing and the Genoese were said to have flown the Mongol standard from the walls of Galata in support of Timur. However, after a few months following his destruction of the Ottoman power in Anatolia, fear of being the next target had gripped the European people. Preferring the devil they knew to one they did not, Italian ships ferried the beaten Ottoman soldiers into Thrace to safety. Timur was furious at the Italian sailors who rescued the Ottoman soldiers, but with no ships, he was in no position to do anything to stop it. At least one Muslim writer complained that, despite being Muslims, Timur's soldiers ravaged in Asia Minor like barbarians. Due to the Timurid invasion, the Ottomans abandoned their most recent siege of Constantinople and their troops were transferred to Asia Minor to counter the new threat. The Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Ankara bought the Byzantine emperor and much of Eastern Europe a brief respite. This event was catastrophic for the Ottoman state, fracturing what remained and bringing almost total collapse of the empire. This resulted in an civil war among Bayezid's sons. A total collapse of the Ottoman Empire was probably only averted due to the fact that Timur himself died only three years later, sparking their own Timurid civil war as various family members battled each other for succession. The Ottoman civil war continued for another 11 years (1413) following the Battle of Ankara. The victor, now Sultan Mehmed I, wisely chose to relocate his empire's capital to the European side of the Bosphorus. Succeeding years of internal social and religious strife would lead to further delays in any meaningful Ottoman expansion. Remarkably, only 51 years after this near collapse, the Ottomans would finally achieve the long sought-after Islamic dream of capturing Constantinople (1453). This was a feat only realized once before, by the Western knights of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The battle is also significant in Ottoman history as being the only time a Sultan has been captured in person.Marozzi, Justin, The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Ancient and Medieval World, Roberts, Andrew (ed.). Quercus Military History, 2008. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-84724-259-4 It has been claimed that over 50,000 Turks laid dead within just a few hours.http://historyofislam.com/contents/the-post-mongol-period/the-battle-of-ankara See also * Bertrando de Mignanelli Notes References * Bury, J. B., The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. 4. Tanner, J. R., Previté-Orton, C. W., Brooke, Z. N. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1923. * Dincer, Turgut ( 2002) Did the diversion of a small water course change the course of the history? Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union Vol 83 Issue 31 * * Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream, New York: Basic Books, 2006. * * Hildinger, Erik, Warriors of the Steppes, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2001. * * Marozzi, Justin, Tamerlane: sword of Islam, conqueror of the world, London: HarperCollins, 2004 * Marozzi, Justin, "Tamerlane", in: The Art of War: great commanders of the ancient and medieval world, Andrew Roberts (editor), London: Quercus Military History, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84724-259-4 * Nicolle, David Armies of the Ottoman Turks, 1300–1774; colour plates by Angus McBride. London: Osprey Publishing, 1983 ISBN 0-85045-511-1 . * Prawdin, Michael, The Mongol Empire; with a new introduction by Gérard Chaliand. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2006. (translation first published by G. Allen and Unwin, London, 1940) * * Spencer, Lauren, Iran: a primary source cultural guide, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004. * Vauchez, André; Dobson, Richard Barrie & Lapidge, Michael (eds.) Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Volume 1, Cambridge: James Clarke and Co., 2000. ISBN 0-227-67931-8 * Tucker, Spencer C. Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict ABC-CLIO, 2008. ISBN 978-1598844290 External links *Encyclopædia Britannica: Ankara, Battle of *DBA Battle Scenario: The Battle of Angora *Military- Engineering Strategy used by Timur at the Battle of Ankara (1402) *History of Battle of Ankara from Turkish sources *Map of Mongol dominions after the Battle of Ankara, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection *Battle of Ankara animated battle map by Jonathan Webb Category:Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Category:Battles involving the Timurid Empire Category:History of Ankara Province Category:Byzantine–Ottoman wars Category:Battles involving Serbia in the Middle Ages Category:Battles in medieval Anatolia Category:15th century in the Ottoman Empire Category:Conflicts in 1402 Category:1402 in Asia Category:1402 in the Ottoman Empire